BENNINGTON — A homeless man who told police he had been living in a tent on the campus of Bennington College for the past three weeks pleaded innocent Friday to stealing a guitar from a student.

Shaun A. Gibbens, 22, was arraigned on the felony grand larceny charge in Bennington criminal court. He was released without bail but banned from the college campus.

Bennington Police Cpl. Christopher Lauzon wrote in an affidavit that a student reported Wednesday that his guitar, worth about $2,000, had been stolen.

The next day, the owner of a Bennington music store told police a man brought in a guitar and was asking about its value. Lauzon said he got to the store while Gibbens was there.

Gibbens said he was given the guitar by a woman at a church in North Bennington, the officer wrote. Gibbens told Lauzon he just wanted to get home to Sacramento, Calif., and had come to Bennington to visit his girlfriend, a Bennington College student who knew the guitar’s owner.

“Shaun then stated: ‘This doesn’t look good for me.’ I told him I agreed with his statement and provided him with the opportunity to tell me the truth,” Lauzon said.